As mentioned in my Entertainment Link-Off, here is the movie review for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The latest entry to the Harry Potter film series drops the bright, light-hearted tone of the previous films and attempts to capture the dark nature of… teenage romance?

Gone are many of the childish fantasy elements that were a part of the early films. The boys and girls have grown into young men and women, leading to serious romantic entanglements. Oh I almost forgot, there’s also that looming battle against the evil Lord Voldemort. How can we take this whole fighting evil thing seriously when it seems like the main characters are under the spell of raging hormones?

Now I’m certainly not complaining about the romance subplots in the movie. In fact they were the source of the some of the funniest scenes in the film. There were many moments that played off like a G version of a Gossip Girl episode, but it definitely highlighted the improvement in these young actors’ acting skills (especially Rupert Grint). It was refreshing to see this amidst the battle between good wizard/bad wizard and it provided a nice contrast to a somewhat sombre ending.

In this film, Harry is now Dumbledore’s official sidekick, which is a very important development in the story. However I find it frustrating to see Daniel Radcliffe still playing more like a little boy than the hero he is supposed to become when the time comes for Harry to whip out his wand (perhaps blame the screenwriter and not the actor). The awfully slow development of the main protagonist will definitely hinder the films in some capacity (*according to my friends that are into the Potter lore, this is not the case in the books). You’d think that five years of training at Hogwarts would have made him less of a bumbling wizard.

After having another film under their belt, the creative team behind the Harry Potter movie series seemed to have finally settled in comfortably in the groove with the sixth film. The fantastical elements are played down, there was a nice balance of comedic teenage romance to go along with the gloomy battle against the dark side. Director David Yates, seemed lost while making Order of the Phoenix (the fifth film in the franchise) as the movie was clunky and had a very disappointing CGI-heavy finish. However, with the return of screenwriter Steve Kloves, who penned the first four Potter films, they may have found their footing on their way towards the big finale in the next two films. With a two and half hour running time, the film could be considered a little too long (like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), however it didn’t seem to be a problem here as it managed to flow nicely and there was enough comedy and mystery throughout the film’s entire running time to keep the audience engaged.

Despite not being a Harry Potter fan, I did like this film. It opens and (almost) closes well. Without giving too much away (though I’m sure most of you already read the books anyway), I found the end of the film to be a bit lackluster. Yates has indicated that he wanted to play down the end of this film to make it seem less repetitive in the next two films, but it feels as though he stripped away a potentially powerful and emotional scene that would have made this film a lot more memorable. The film was at least visually pleasing as the art design and cinematography was also very good. This time around Hogwarts itself seem emptier, gloomier and more ominous than ever before. It’s a nice subtle transition as the series progresses towards a more serious storyline.

I understand that the film is based on a literary source and there were many changes and cuts made in order to translate it to the film medium, but there were some scenes and little details that may be targeted towards devoted readers of the Harry Potter series that may leave regular viewers somewhat baffled at times. That being said Yates and Kloves did a commendable job handling J.K. Rowling’s mammoth text and maintaining some creative control to prevent allow non-Potter fans to have a nice grasp of the story.

One of the things I really liked about the film series is the awesome cast. It is like a collection of some of the finest British actors out there. Depending on the character, some are reduced to small roles, but they seem to make a nice impact everytime they manage to get some screen time. Jim Broadbent was brilliantly cast in this film as Professor Slughorn. He was a welcome addition to the series as he provided some much needed comic relief and did an amazing job portraying a tortured character with a somewhat darker/shameful past. It was also nice to see Alan Rickman get some extra dialogue in the film (or perhaps it’s only because his character breaks up every single word he speaks). While many fans did not warm up to Michael Gambon’s portrayal of Dumbledore, it seemed like he managed to steal the show this time around, showing that the old actor still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

For the first time, this Potter film feels more epic than previous entries in this saga. The films have made a nice transition from light-hearted fun tales into a fairly grounded fantasy story. The mix of romance, comedy and impending doom seemed to have worked well in this film. Starting strong and falling a bit short at the end seems to be a common characteristic of both Potter films directed by Yates so far. This is something to worry about, but I certainly hope Yates’ vision of the grand finale will be something that is wondrous to behold.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ + 1/2